The two parenting tricks that I learned years too late.

[SharingMichelle]

1. Give them music and headphones for long car journeys. Shuts them right up. My eldest is 10 and I've only recently learned this.

1. Peel the negative space off the sticker sheet and your small child can peel off the stickers independently. Without ripping them. Yes, even cheap stickers. WHY didn't anyone tell me this one??!

I used pampers bed mats when I was breast feeding. Just whip it off and your sheets are saved.

Pull up nappies start at size 4 so if you have trouble pinning your baby down to do their nappy up, try them instead of nappies with tabs.
Don't worry about getting your baby into a routine for at least the first 3 months as their brain development is so rapid that every time you think you have things sussed, they'll have a developmental leap and you'll be back to square one. Go with the the baby's flow.

Buy cheap I knickers and the biggest pads you can find rather than the disposable maternity pants which are way more expensive.

I still take maternity paper knickers on hols and throw away each day

Fitted sheet beach tip photo helps make sense of it.

www.google.co.uk/search?q=fitted+sheet+beach+hack&oq=fitted+sheet+beach&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j0l3.7553j0j4&client=tablet-android-pega&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#imgrc=oWgftIAprkWRsM%3A

My dd hated the sand so wouldn't venture off the towel for years anyway!

Serve a raw vegetable starter every night, they will eat it because they are hungry before diner and stops the when Canaan I eaaaat ? While you are trying to cook.

Still- I do this! It means I can get some actual vitamins in them, too!

Foil over a window makes a good blackout blind for holiday

Teaching kids to put shoes on the right feet.....
Cut a sticker in half. Stick the left half in the left shoe, and the right half in the right shoe so that when the shoes are put together, the two halves fit.

I don't get the baby vest one..... please can someone spell it out for me?

Roll the vest down rather than pull vest over head. The novelise nevk gives enough room to roll down and off. Useful in cases of poo explosions.

ffs envelope neck

KatharinaRosalie yep suppositories were tried before 6+ calpol
it was when she was nearly 2 and in hospital having fitted again that I asked for some suppositories to take away (had run out of supply from local gp and we were on holiday miles away) - the consultant was quite horrified that she'd been subjected to them by us instead if his exceptionally easy fix.

dd was an early talker and had been known to shout
"no mummy's minger (finger) my bum"

When not well. Not particularly something i was happy about in a Dr's waiting room.

When you have a toddler or big baby who is not yet able or willing to keep blankets on, put a big fleece UNDER them, tucked round the mattress. Being warm underneath makes a big difference to how warm they are. If you want to allow the child to stay off it when they are too hot and move onto it later in the night when they get cold - which most toddlers ARE sensible enough to do - cover just half the bed in the fleece. In their sleep they will gravitate toward the warmer or colder end of the bed as needed.

Maybe not the best thread for this, but I was just told by a friend how to do the 9x table by holding out ten fingers in front of you. Fold down the finger (counting from the left) for the multiple required, and the answer is the number of fingers on the left of that finger for the tens, and the ones on the right for the units. E.g. drop finger number four to get the answer to four times 9 - leaves three fingers left of the gap (3x10=30), and 6 fingers right of the gap for the units - answer is 36! Works for all up to 90! It sounds a bit complicated here and I thought that too when tried to explain to DD (8) but she got it straight away!

For wee accidents on carpets and mattresses, clean up with water then sprinkle bicarbonate of soda on. It helps soak up and dry out the water plus eliminates odour too. Just vacuum it up when dry.

Pound shops do boxes of bicarb- great for general cleaning!

These are great and so helpful.

I had a reluctant toilet user (who was train mad), especially when coming to number 2s, so I drew (on paper) a long train track and stuck with blutac behind the loo. I then drew little carriages/flat bed/coal trucks etc, then some little steam engines. Each time ds did a wee he'd choose a truck, and poo gained him an engine. He adored using the loo and was so proud of his train. He still remembers it now, fondly at 11.

Another toilet related is to put a ping pong ball in the toilet and get little ds's to aim at the ball. Plus you can flush without it disappearing/blocking the u bend. If you can get a coloured ball even better and with permanent marker you can draw a cheeky face on it.

Teeth cleaning, I told my 3 that the tooth fairy uses little teeth for bricks for her dazzling White Castle. She won't leave a coin for yellow ones. I did little footprints over the window ledge (in silver eyeshadow) although this might freak some children out.

In holidays with bored dc, and another box one, I'd save up junk modelling bits (foil lids/large bottle tops etc) for dials for a time machine/space ship. Hours of fun building and preparing for missions.

Wandering
I'm in my forties and still cant remember my 9 times tables, your trick has blown my mind!!

Thank you neighbour's dc for this one! Instead of saying 'no' to young children, say 'it's not allowed' then it's not mummy who's a spoilsport but the rules of the universe! It really works for long enough to make you feel better about life!

Alipally1, I use a completely opposite trick LOL! I found that when I made some general assertion about how things are ("time to go home from the park now", "we can't afford that") then they argue against that ("no it isn't", "you do have money, I saw you with some earlier").

Instead, whenever possible I frame it in terms of my own feelings and needs: "I'm cold. I want to go home", "I want to save my money for something else". It took me a while to get used to, because as a parent I was pretending I had no needs of my own and everything was about the children.

But this works better for me. How can a kid argue when mum says she's cold? It turns their attention away from themselves and towards other people. Occasionally they come up with alternative solutions which make everyone happy: "Could you get yourself a cup of tea from the kiosk - would you want to stay longer then?" It feels more honest too.

I think it may help them communicate better as they get older, because they can explain what the real issue is. So yesterday dd's friend wanted to borrow her spade and instead of saying, "No, it's mine" she said "I'm worried that you'll leave it in the sandpit and some toddler will go off with it like they always do." Friend promised to keep the spade with her continuously and return it to dd when she was finished, and I promised to keep an eye on it too.

Set an alarm on your phone when it's time to get shoes and coats on for school/nursery. Mine plays 'heigh ho' from Snow White. Then it's a non negotiable time to leave. It reduces the nagging significantly and as soon as it plays they go running to put their shoes on.

Free button that's such a cute idea! Genius. My dd too old for that but will pass to her when she's a mum.

How can I save this thread for future reference?

My mum told me about the counting to 10 thing when you want them to do something and it's brilliant. They've never asked what will happen if I get to 10!
Also sunshine is the only thing for carrot stains.
Bath toys go in the dishwasher.
Lunch bags go in the washing machine.